Beyond the Night II: Evermore
by Yemi Hikari
Summary: Kaldur discovers taking on the leadership role of the team no easy task. For starters, he finds himself dealing with the aftermath resulting from the friction between Red Arrow and Robin. On the other hand, he finds himself learning more about Teen Titans. Raven, after all, is joining the team.


_Disclaimer – I don't own Teen Titans or Young Justice. This is the second non one-shot story in my __**Beyond the Night**__ series outside of the side AU. The one-shot collection is __**Beyond Justice**__ and the previous story in the series is __**Beyond the Team**__. The one-shot collection is now twenty-two chapters in._

_For those who don't want to read the one-shot collection here are the major things, you need to know. The Teen Titans were disbanded because of the Trigon incident which left Cyborg in a comma he's just come out of. Barbara and Zatanna aren't the same age as Dick, but Zatanna was the fiancé of Dick's cousin, yet she also thinks the only Grayson alive is Dick's uncle. Batman is also working on integrating Raven into the Young Justice team._

**Beyond the Night II: Evermore  
****_Team Workings_**

"_I think you should lead._"

The thought of leading the group never crossed the mind of the young Atlantean until he heard the words straight from the youngest member of the team over the coms link, yet nobody in the group objected. Even Red Arrow agreed, yet the reason why left Aqualad unsettled, for Red Arrow's words were yet another disparaging remark towards Robin. Red Arrow's lack of respect towards the youngest team member ranked low on Aqualad's priority list at the current moment, though.

"Robin? Are you really serious about me being leader?"

"_Yes. Yes, I am._"

"Then as leader I am calling off the mission." Aqualad wasn't surprised when Robin protested the decision, which in turn made the young Atlantean note the self-esteem issues which arose because of some choice words and actions by Red Arrow and purposefully told Robin the mission… "…isn't as important as you are a friend. Despite the fact you've not likely felt this way, you are indeed a very important member of our team."

While confronting Red Arrow at that very moment wasn't high on his priority list, Aqualad couldn't deny the negative effect the other teen's actions had upon Robin.

Aqualad finished speaking he worked on making his way towards Red Arrow and Robin's location along with Kid Flash and Superboy carefully formulating a plan in his head despite not knowing all the factors. Over the coms link, they all three heard the start of trouble before they saw their companions on the frozen river while bullets rained down cracking the ice. Red Arrow remained oblivious of his current situation while the three slid down the side, but Aqualad took note of the way Robin started sliding towards the ice.

The order came quickly. "Kid Flash, go after Red Arrow. I'll get Robin. Superboy, break a hole in the ice farther down the river and be ready to pull us out."

Aqualad darted forward and dived in after Robin when their youngest team member slipped under, yet he quickly reached the young hero and pulled him close while the river pulled them down the stream. He barely managed to notice the rebreather Robin used slipping from the youth's mouth and his free hand pushed the item back in. Up ahead he saw the ice smashing and kicked up towards the hole Superboy created but found himself grateful for when the Kryptonian yanked them out of the icy water.

The young Atlantean turned his attention towards examining Robin and noticed how Robin's lips turned blue. Without being given an order Superboy gently scooped Robin into his arms while Batman's protégée continued shivering violently; as such Aqualad only needed to remind Superboy to tread lightly. They arrived shortly after Kid Flash and Red Arrow and the order was given by Zatanna for Red Tornado to take off.

For some reason, Robin felt the need to apologize for making him leader, but the reason – from the youngest's own words – tied to dealing with Batman. While Aqualad never thought of being a leader he found himself glad even if only to take the burden off Robin's shoulders for once. He wasn't expecting to see Wonder Woman or Martian Manhunter waiting for them. They ushered Robin away but told the other members of the ragtag team they would contact Batman. The rest of the team relocating themselves to the den area while Zatanna left with the two other adult heroes.

"This. This is all your fault!" Kid Flash poked Red Arrow in the chest. The anger on the young speedster's face was quite evident.

Red Arrow pushed Kid Flash's hand away in irritation. "Zatanna told you to knock it off, remember?"

Kaldur watched Kid Flash's nostrils flare. The red-haired teen poked Red Arrow again. "No. We're not avoiding this subject, Roy!"

"Fine! How exactly is this my fault?" Red Arrow crossed his arms in anger while looking down at Kid Flash.

"You kept treating him like a little kid." Hearing the comment from Superboy instead of his own lips made Kaldur let out a sigh. While he appreciated the clone's attempt at helping, Kaldur felt the clone's actions might actually cause more friction.

"Really? That's your answer? You're completely forgetting the fact Robin took off on us, yet I'm…"

"Enough." Kaldur stood with his arms across his chest. "While Robin wasn't completely innocent regarding what happened, we can't ignore the fact his actions wouldn't have occurred if you hadn't done and said things which undermined him as a member of the team." Kaldur watched Red Arrow open his mouth. "No. I don't want to hear another word from you regarding why you've done nothing wrong. What you've done is make Robin feel as if he's not a valued member of this team, yet also made him feel as if we're not his friends"

"That…"

"Don't." Kid Flash shook his head. "Don't bring up the fact there is an age gap between us and don't tell Rob to go make friends his own age. We _are_ his peers."

Mentally, Kaldur noted the manner in which Kid Flash emphasized the last point and filed the info away. Instead, he focused on what he felt the team needed to understand. "Kid Flash is correct. Despite the age gap, Robin is on the same level as the rest of us on the team, but the fact he is a valuable member of the team is not something any of us should forget."

He wasn't sure if his words got across to Red Arrow. In fact, he wasn't sure if he could resolve the problem between Red Arrow and Robin at all. The silence though meant everyone was thinking about what he said and his head turned in the direction of the infirmary. Kid Flash finally flopped into the couch while letting out a deep sigh. "What are we going to do?"

"There's nothing we can do." Kaldur found himself thinking carefully. "However, it does nobody any good if we're not fully rested. Perhaps you should head on home."

"No. I want to know how Rob's doing." Kid Flash stood back up. "I'm going to go and check on Rob." The speedster, of course, took off faster than Kaldur could stop him, but soon came running back. One of Kaldur's eyebrows rose up. "Wonder-Woman-just-kissed-Rob."

"What?" Superboy frowned at Kid Flash while crossing his arms. The look of confusion on his face was evident. A gust of wind blew into the room as Flash arrived.

"Wonder-Woman-just-kissed-Rob-on-the-forehead! I'm-not-letting-him-live-it-down."

One of Flash's eyebrows lifted up before walking over and grabbed Kid Flash by both shoulders. "Okay. I'm taking you home."

"Wait…" Kid Flash attempted protesting.

"Then I can get to bed myself."

"I-don't-wanna."

"Do you really want to be here when Batman shows up?"

Kaldur watched Kid Flash cringe, yet he knew he couldn't get out of talking to Batman. He took a deep breath while Superboy frowned; after all, he'd never dealt with the wrong side of Batman."

"Well…" Red Arrow took a deep breath. "I'm outta here."

Red Arrow certainly wasn't a team player.


End file.
